Toy



R. 'SMYTHE Oct. 1, 1940.

TOY

Filed Dec., 2, 1938 WWW J m,

I mm h Y WI /A I l l l l ll l Patented Oct. 1, 1940 PATENT OFFICE TO'YRoy Smythe, Marshallton, Del., assignor of onehalf to Angelo J.Giannone,'Wilmington, Del.

Application December 2, 1938, Serial No. 243,648

1 Claim. (01. 46219) This invention relates to toys and moreparticularly to a toy vehicle representing a war machine or tank, itbeing oneobject of the invention to provide a toy adapted to be used bysmall .5- children in sand boxes or upon sandy beaches.

Another object of the invention is to provide a toy wherein there hasbeen provided a central motor compartment and tractor members projectingforwardly and rearwardly from the motor 10 compartment or body portionof the vehicle, the tractors being of such construction that, when thetoy is placed upon sand and the-tractors set in operation, they willpropel the toy forwardly by engagement of the tractors with the sand.

It is another object of the invention to provide the toy with tractorswhich are of conical formation and carry spirally extending blades forengaging sand and propelling the toy forwardly.

Another object of the invention is to so form 20 the tractors that theywill not only propel the toy forwardly along sand but also cause the toyto bore itsway through piled up sand if such an obstruction is erectedin the path of the moving toy.

25 Another object of the invention is to so form the motor housing orbody portion of the toy and the conical tractors that, although the toymay tunnel its way through sand, the sand will be prevented from havingaccess to the interior of the 30 motor housing or conical tractors. Itwill thus be seen that the sand will be prevented from clogging theinterior of the motor housing or the conical tractors and interferingwith operation of the motor or adding undesired weight to the 35 conicaltractors.

Another object of the invention is to provide the motor housing or bodyof the toy with means for guiding forward movement of the toy along orthrough the sand.

40 The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure l is a view showing the improved toy partially in side elevationand partially in vertical section, and

5 Figure 2 is a sectional view taken along the line 2-2 of Figure 1.

This improved toy has an intermediate section or body I constituting amotor housing and end sections or front and rear tractors 2 and 3 which50 are of conical formation and project from front and rear ends of themotor housing or body I, as shown in Figure 1. Each of the tractors isof hollow conical formation and provided at its inner end with an endwall 4 at the center of which 55 is an inwardly extending boss or block5 bored longitudinally, asshown at 6. These bores are rectangular incross section and through them extendthefront "and rear shafts I and 8which are square in cross section, as shown in Figure 2, throughoutpractically their entirelength but 5 have their inner end portions l and8 circular in cross section and journaled through bearings 9 and Illformed centrally ofthe front and rear walls II and I2 of the motorhousing or body I. The outer end of each of the shafts l and 8 is 10formed with a threaded end portion l3 for en-- gaging in the internallythreaded shank l4 of a screw l5, as shown at the left-hand end of Figure1, and referring thereto, it will be seen that, when the conical tractoris slid longitudinally into place about the shaft carrying the same, thescrew may be applied and when it is screwed tightly upon the threadedend portion of the shaft, the conical tractor will be firmly held inplace and caused to turn with the shaft. Blades l6 and Il extendspirally about the conical tractors from their inher ends to their outerends, and when these tractors are turned, the spirally extending bladeswill have such engagement with the sand upon which the toy is placedthat the toy will be propelled forwardly. The blades extend spirallyabout the conical tractors in opposite directions and as the tractorsare turned in opposite directions their blades may both have goodgripping engagement with the sand and very effectively 3O propel the toyforwardly.

In order to rotate the two shafts, there has been provided a motor whichis mounted in the motor housing or body I. This motor is of aconventional construction and may be a spring motor wound through themedium of a key 18 or in any other desired manner. The shaft IQ of themotor extends longitudinally of the toy with its end portions projectingforwardly and rearwardly from the motor casing and into gear housings 2040 and 2|. The inner ends of the two shafts l and 8 also extend into thegear housings 20 and 2! and conventional gearing is provided in thehousings to cause rotary motion to be transmitted to the two shafts andcause one shaft to turn in a clockwise direction and the other in acounter-clockwise direction, as indicated by the arrows. 22 and 23.While it has been stated that a single motor is mounted within the motorhousing or body I. it will be understood that separate motors may beemployed for drivingthe two shafts in opposite directions and thatinstead of winding the motor through the medium of a key l8, this .maybe accomplished by grasping the two tractors and turning them inopposite directions to effect winding of the motor. A fin 24, whichextends longitudinally of the body or motor housing, is carried by thebottom of the motor housing or body, and since the lower portion of thisfin will become embedded in the sand, it will serve as a rudder to guideforward movement of the toy and cause it to progress forwardly in astraight line. While a single fin has been shown, it will be obviousthat additional fins may be provided if so desired and spaced from eachother transversely of the body. A hood 25 serves as a top for the motorhousing and is formed with a marginal wall 26 from which extend members21 representing machine guns. It will thus be seen that the toy willpresent a realistic representation of a war tank which, when in use,will propel itself forwardly along the sand. If sand is piled in frontof the toy, the front tractor upon encountering the piled up sand willbore its way through the sand instead of moving over it and the entiretoy will pass through the sand similar to the manner in which a moledigs its way through the ground.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

A toy of the character described comprising a housing, shafts journaledthrough end walls of said housing and projecting from front and rearends of the housing, a conical propeller body fitting about each shaftand having an end Wall at its inner end of a diameter substantiallycorresponding to the size of the housing, the end wall of each propellerbody being formed with an inwardly extending bos to snugly receive theshaft about which it fits and cause rotation of the propeller body withthe shaft, securing caps in threaded engagement with outer end portionsof said shafts having heads at their outer ends engaging apices of thepropeller bodies to hold the propeller bodies upon the shaft, said headsbeing tapered toward their outer ends to form penetrating tips for thepropeller bodies, a traction blade extending spirally about eachpropeller body, means in said housing for imparting rotary motion tosaid shafts in opposite directions, and a fin extending longitudinallyof said housing and projecting downwardly from the bottom thereof forguiding movement of the toy when the propellers are in operation.

ROY SMYTI-IE.

